


The Magma in My Veins

by Citron0



Series: Just Me Writing About Cole Again [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I gave him the mic and I'm letting him rant, Takes place some time before or during season 7, everyone but cole is mentioned, ghost cole mention, lara arm headcanons, post-DotD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 13:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19870135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Citron0/pseuds/Citron0
Summary: Cole contemplates his second chance at life and how everything isn't magically back to normal. What was the new power that lurks in his blood? Was he truly human or something else entirely?





	The Magma in My Veins

**Author's Note:**

> This story wouldn't stop bugging me until I wrote it.  
> This story is more or less a journal entry that Cole wrote at 3 AM when everyone else was sleeping. The thoughts were keeping him up at night, so he had to write them down just to get them off his mind. He's a tired boy.

* * *

Ever since ~~I got my body back~~ the **curse** was lifted- the one that was _supposed_ to be _permanent_ \- I haven't been the same.

_(I still don't know how to feel about becoming human again, I wasn't what I had in mind when I- when I did something really stupid because I was a vengeful, panicking ghost. Yang took advantage of me every second he could. I can't bring myself to blame him, sometimes I wonder if I would've done something similar had I stayed a ghost for long enough. It **haunts** me; a line had been crossed on the Day of the Departed, part of me just snapped. A part that I don't think would've had I been human at the time.)_

I don't just mean because I got a scar that glows in the dark or because I occasionally forget I won't die if I come in contact with **water**. No, no, but it's related to that. ~~  
~~

This new _power_ I got, it's like a double-edged sword. The others, they think that's all it is, a **power** , but it's **not**. It's something else entirely. At first glance, it seems like an upgrade to my super strength, but it goes deeper than that. I think I'm _fundamentally_ different now.

Unlocking the lava arm or the earth punch changed something within me, I'm sure of it. After getting it, it's as if I became a ghost all over again! It activates randomly and when I don't use it for too long. Sometimes my hands just _leak_ **lava** without warning. I find myself bending metals I didn't mean to bend like spoons and forks, and the side rails (I'm not proud of how little control I have over it).

Even when they're not active, Kai claims my arms are always hot to the touch- I don't feel it, but I trust his word. I stopped wearing sleeves because the fresh lava makes it combust and smelling like arson is more of Kai's thing than mine; frankly, I'd like to keep it that way. It itches too, when I don't use it, like a mild mosquito bite spanning the length of my arms.

_(One time I scratched too hard and lava had spilled out to close the wound; it was really surreal. Zane was there when it happened so I know I wasn't just imagining it- I think my scabs are made of **literal** rocks now. The other elemental master do not have this problem nor are they this connected to their elements- Paleman being the exception.)_

I don't like the looks the other ninja give me when the magma acts up, Jay thinks it functions like a switch. I can't just 'turn it off,' Jay! It isn't like turning sand into stone or summoning rocks to fling at something, it's like my whole body is some makeshift volcano! And I got to let the lava flow or it'll flow without my input. They act like they know how to deal with it better than I can, what would they know about **focus** they didn't have to spend a year as an unfeeling **ghost**! It's bad enough I'm not used to holding things in general, but their expressions when my arms and hands act up? It's a mix of disappointment and _fear_.

I really don't know who I am supposed to talk about this with. Zane? He might have something in his data banks. Master Wu? He helped me a lot when it was just the two of us, but I know he's too busy now to talk with me. Sensei Yang? He's well-versed with magic, but was this magic? What qualifies as magic? Perhaps I should just do some digging through Yang's books, if I don't end up burning the pages first. Maybe keep Nya on standby, she's been hovering near me lately so the Airjitzu temple doesn't become a pile of flames. I really don't want to irrevocably damage our new home.

I should have a handle on this by now! Maybe I should just get out of here and let the lava simmer off or fill the hole left behind by the temple? Yeah, the hole, no one would notice it after it cools!

I don't understand why any of this is happening at all. Why does it seem like my blood has been replaced with magma? Why does it burst out of me when I get distracted, angry or tired? There has to be a reason for all this, something I'm not considering. ~~_Maybe the Rift didn't work fully._~~ No, that's dumb. Why wouldn't I be human? Just because I got a big scar on my face? (I can't even hide all of it with my hair, that's frustrating.) I know _humans_ don't bleed lava, but most humans aren't elemental masters of earth. I wonder if Mom had this power; is it unique to me? I'd only know if she were here, but she isn't.

I miss her. Even after all these years of drowning the pain in the ninja lifestyle, I still miss her. Her and her seemingly inheritable love for pan dulce. I haven't able to visit her grave in a while, I think I'll be able to sneak away during the night. Oh right, people sleep. It's almost 5, I should probably go to bed, I don't want the others to worry about me too much. I haven't gotten used to sleeping yet. I mean, I hadn't done it for a year, who could blame me?

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Timed in real time. ((I need sleep.))


End file.
